The Lead

Global rollouts of Microsoft’s new operating system (OS) Windows 10 begin at midnight and, with the release, the company is “opting for significance over stability,” according to Kevin Paul Scott, co-founder of brand consulting firm ADDO Worldwide.

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Researchers from various California universities are calling for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to enact an immediate ban on live salamander imports to the U.S. in light of a fatal fungus that caused a 96% fatality rate among infected European salamander species.

With three pairs of spindly legs and a thin body, water striders are a marvel of nature. They stand atop the water’s surface, the ends of their legs forming small depressions, like static legs on a trampoline. As they move their legs, the only signs of disturbance are small ripples on the water’s surface.

In February 1961, David Latham, now a senior astronomer with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was living in a one-room apartment with his wife. The newlyweds’ future was unwritten. Latham’s wife asked him what the couple’s plan for next year would be. Latham, a senior at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was unsure, but traveled to Harvard Univ.’s admissions office to look into graduate school.

Gray with dark vertical stripes that run along their topsides, tiger sharks can inspire fear in the minds of the masses. Data gathered from the International Shark Attack File shows that between 1580 and 2014 there were 111 attacks. That’s second to the great white, whose attacks number 314.

Image science and technology attracts researchers from academic and government institutions, as well as practitioners in the imaging industry globally. The diverse research interest and the multidisciplinary characteristics of the imaging field encourage competing ideas to be presented and tested by researchers. This, in turn, prompts imaging technologies to quickly respond to challenges from various scientific disciplines.

Floating in the sky, the polyethylene plastic balloon looks shriveled towards the bottom, but bulbous at the top. The balloon travels approximately 20 km above Earth into the stratosphere. Its base is outfitted with an array of solar panels, capable of producing 100 W of power, which keep its electronics running during the day while storing enough charge for use at night.

The chimpanzee sits atop a log. One hand is gripped onto a dangling branch, while the other is caked with clay. Gingerly, the primate cradles the clay into its mouth. After a mouthful, it wipes its hand on the log and gets off it. Univ. of Oxford researchers found that chimpanzees in Uganda’s Budongo Forest have started eating clay to boost the minerals in their diet.

In first world countries, light and electricity may be something taken for granted. When one ambles into a business office, it’s uncommon to marvel at the fluorescents above when they flicker on. All it takes is the simple flip of a switch. The interplay between light and dark literally at one’s fingertips. However, that’s not how it is throughout the world.

Polymyxin B is an old antibiotic stepping into the modern day limelight. Discovered in the 1950s, and used in the early 1960s, the antibiotic has high rates of nephrotoxicity, or kidney toxicity. As alternative antibiotics became available, its use was diminished. Left on the backburner, it was only being called upon as a last resort in medical situations.

Early modern humans and Neanderthals were close bedfellows. Fossil evidence from one of the earliest modern humans in Europe shows the specimen shared between 6 and 9% of its genome with Neanderthals, the highest amount of any human sequenced to date, according to recent findings.

Launched in August 2005, and arriving at the Red Planet in March 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been orbiting the planet, collecting high-resolution imaging, spectral data and atmospheric and subsurface profiles. In its time, the spacecraft has returned several times more data about Mars than all other deep-space missions combined. NASA is currently conducting 16 deep-space missions.

For Patrick Druckenmiller, the Earth sciences curator at the Univ. of Alaska Museum, the discovery of an ancient marine reptile fossil in the Alaskan mountains illustrates the perfect marriage between nonprofessional and professional paleontologists when it comes to fossil discovery.

Influenza is a viral infection that lasts for about a week and affects the nose, throat, bronchi and lungs. It is characterized by sudden onset of high fever, aching muscles, headache and severe malaise, non-productive cough, sore throat and rhinitis. The virus can be easily transmitted from person-to-person, but is also classified as a zoonotic virus, as it can affect animals and be transmitted from animals to people, as well.

Stephen Hawking, Noam Chomsky, Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak are among the many signatories of a letter warning against the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and weapons, something the Future of Life Institute sees as feasible within years.

No one said launching a new product was easy. It requires a great idea, innovation, marketing, a competitive edge and, ultimately, getting others to care about the problem you’re trying to solve. This plays out weekly on Shark Tank—a flood of people enter the tank believing they have the next great idea.